The President Who Made a Bet
by annabre24
Summary: After Vanellope makes a bet with Taffyta and things go terribly wrong, it will be up to Vanellope's mute friend to fix things. Only things is, does her friend now how to race? Based on a dream I had. One-shot.


Vanellope crumpled to her knees and cried as Taffyta laughed.

"That's what you get for challenging me!" Taffyta said, taking Vanellope's royal spear. Vanellope didn't reply; I wouldn't if I were in her position either. Taffyta faced the crowd, which was silent. "Citizens of Sugar Rush! I, Taffyta, am your new ruler! Now, BOW!" she cried angrily. The now frightened citizens and racers bowed down, apart from myself. She glanced over at me and glared. I simply smiled and waved, which only heightened her anger. She walked up to me and grasped my collar. "I said BOW." she hissed. In return I easily removed myself from her grip and walked around her towards Vanellope, who was still crying. "Pepper, if you take one more step I will throw you in the Fungeon!" Taffyta cried, trying to stop me. Reaching Vanellope, I crouched down onto one knee and pulled her into a hug. She accepted it gratefully as she sobbed into my shoulder.

"Oh Pepper, I was so STUPID! I can't believe I bet my position as president to her! I was STUPID!" she sobbed. I rubbed her back gently. It was my way of comforting her, since I was mute. The sound of footsteps behind us was obvious, but I ignored Taffyta as she stood over us, seething. I locked gazes with her, and it only made her angrier. The hand holding the spear shook, and I knew that she was contemplating stabbing me right then and there. But a smile formed on her face, and she snapped her fingers.

"Wynnchel, Duncan! Take these two to the Fungeon." Taffyta said, smirking at me. I only smiled back, making her step back. I was known for being that one racer who you didn't mess with, because even though I was silent, I could beat the living crepe out of anyone. The two donut cops walked up, reaching down to cuff us. I smacked their hands and lifted Vanellope up. There was no way those traitors were going to touch her. I started walking towards the castle, with Vanellope shuffling by my side, when I stopped and faced the crowd. I pointed at myself, then at them, producing at big smile. They all froze, a few even screamed, and I started back towards the castle.

"Pepper, what am I going to do?" Vanellope asked miserably. I shook my head as we walked. At this point I wasn't sure quite what to do, but I'd figure something out. Not only was Vanellope my best friend, but she was our true leader. And I wasn't about to allow Taffyta try to take that place and become Sugar Rush's new dictator.

I walked around my cell, trying to think of a plan to get Vanellope back as Sugar Rush's leader. I knew that Vanellope was in the next cell over, where there was a glitch proof chain. The cell had been specially made for Vanellope upon Turbo's request while disguised as King Candy, and I wanted to slap Taffyta for forcing her to be in there again. She didn't understand how traumatizing the last 15 years had been for Vanellope, and putting her in there wasn't good for her mental health. I can still hear Vanellope crying and screaming for someone to free her.

'Fudging Taffyta. When I get out of here I am going to teach her a lesson. If Vanellope is still sane that is.' I thought to myself. I kept thinking, desperately trying to figure out a way to free us when it hit me. Vanellope, who had been sick of still being treated like crepe by Taffyta, challenged Taffyta to a race. If she won, Taffyta had to be nice to her from that point on. If Taffyta won, she would be Sugar Rush's leader. They made the bet, and had a public race for everyone to see. Vanellope had been winning, but Taffyta cheated. When the front of her car was aligned with the back of Vanellope's, she rammed it, making Vanellope spin out and allowing Taffyta the chance to cross the final stretch of the track and cross the finish line first. But what if I challenged Taffyta to a race? I win, Vanellope is President again. She wins, she keeps her place as ruler of Sugar Rush and I become her personal servant. I pulled my small notepad and pen from my pocket and wrote it down. No one knew how well I raced, because I never did. Driving was something I loved, but I had always found racing to be something that I just didn't want to partake in. I only drove in secluded areas where no one would see me. I knew I could beat Taffyta, but with her ego, she would do it just to gain herself a servant. I ripped the paper off of my notepad and pocketed my pad and pen. There were footsteps headed my way, from what I could hear through the door and Vanellope's sobs. When it sounded like they were a few steps away I knocked on the cell door. The footsteps stopped in front of my cell, and I stepped back as it swung open to reveal a very annoyed Taffyta.

"What could you possibly want? I have another prisoner to deal with." she growled, jerking her head towards the direction of Vanellope's sobs. I handed the paper to her. "What is this?" she asked, and I merely just motioned her to read it. She sighed and read the paper. Her laughter filled my cell as she looked at me. "You can't be serious! You would lose hands down! Do you even have a cart?" I nodded, and she read the paper again. "Fine. You have yourself a deal, but only because I could use a servant who isn't as small as Sour Bill." she told me. She put out her hand, and I put mine out. But I motioned towards her other hand, which was behind her back, and she sighed as she held it out as well. We shook, and I looked at her. "You had better be prepared to lose." she told me. She left my cell and told the two guards with her to let me go and help her get everyone gathered. Facing me, she smirked. "You have an hour Pepper, to meet me at the racetrack." I nodded and walked out past her and the guards. I fast walked down the hall, hearing her remind me that I had 1 hour. Good, that's all I needed.

After about 45 minutes of walking I came upon my house. Wasting no time I opened my garage and jumped into my cart. Gripping the steering wheel, I backed out and shut the garage. I had 15 minutes to make it back to the track. Stomping on the gas, I sped away from my house and towards the track.

'Don't worry Vanellope. I'm going to save you and Sugar Rush from this monster.' I thought as my house disappeared behind me.

My cart sped around the stands and skidded to a stop at the starting line next to Taffyta's. I hopped out and saw her smirking at my from the announcer's stand. I also saw Vanellope up there, looking down at me with red eyes. I looked at her and made an "OK" sign with my fingers. She nodded once and looked at Taffyta, who had the microphone in her hand.

"Hello everyone! It looks like today we have someone who thinks they can beat me. Little Miss Freakazoid here says that she can beat me. So we made a deal. I win, I remain ruler of Sugar Rush, and she becomes my servant. If she wins, Vanellope becomes president again. The rules are simple: First one to cross the finish line wins. Is everyone ready?" she asked. I hopped into my cart as the crowd murmured yes. "Good! Then, without further ado, let's race!" she said, using the slide to slide down and into her cart. The countdown bellowed over us.

"3, 2, 1, GO!" the announcer cried. Taffyta and I shot forward, and the race began. We rounded the first corner and headed towards Gumball Gorge.

"I hope you're ready to lose!" Taffyta cried. I looked at her and laughed. She glared at me as the Gorge approached us faster and faster. "What's so funny?" she asked. I smiled at her and shifted into my 2nd gear. I shot forward and off the ramp into the Gorge, and I heard Taffyta's faint cry behind me. My cart landed and I avoided the gumballs with ease. In my rearview mirror I saw Taffyta had issues avoided some of them, and I smirked. The power up sugar cubes came rushing up and I blasted through the middle one.

"Caramel Stick!" the announcer cried. I held on to it until Taffyta was right behind me before letting it go, causing her to swerve in attempt to avoid it. She barely missed it, but had lost some good ground in doing so. I swung my car up onto the accelerating arrows and flew forward onto the path leading to Chocolate Cake Mountain. I reached the mountain when Taffyta landed, and I saw she had a power up of her own. How I had missed the announcer shouting out Cherry Bomb I don't know, but as I started to round the spiraling mountain I barely saw her chuck it at the cherries on the side. It exploded, and the other cherries followed suit. I shifted again, flying forward. The last explosion got me though, and I scraped the wall.

'Is that all you got?' I thought to myself as I approached the exit. I shot off the ramp, and Taffyta quickly followed suit. She landed right after I did, and I could see anger in her eyes through my mirror. She was NOT happy. We sped towards the ice cream topped mountains, and ice cream started pelting our faces. She was close, but I kept myself in front of her so I could keep an eye on her. We entered the cave, and I bit my lip while slightly pressing my brake down as I went down the rainbow ramp. Taffyta wasn't as smart, and her car didn't completely stay on. She landed right behind me and almost spun out, but then managed to straighten herself out. She shifted, and I moved as far to the side as I could as she aligned her car with mine.

"Scared?" she asked, and I allowed myself to glance over towards the edge. If she were to ram me… I looked at her and shook my head. She gritted her teeth and started using her car to push mine off the edge. I pushed back, hard, and one of back wheels went off the edge. "Hey!" she cried. I shifted again, and watched from my mirror as she struggled to get her wheel back on the track. She did, and she shifted again. Her car approached mine fast and rammed me from behind. I yelped and saw her preparing to do the same thing to me as she did to Vanellope. Growling, I slowed down until I was the one whose front was aligned with the back of her car. She looked at me through her mirror, and I growled.

"Time to get a taste of your own medicine Muttonfudge!" I cried, ramming the side of her car. She screamed as she spun out off the side of the track into the depths of the cave. I shifted my car until it couldn't go any faster, and I zipped out of the cave. Her car regenerated at the cave's entrance, but by the time she was able to start it I passed the finish line, skidding to a stop. Taffyta came rushing towards the finish line, and I expected her to slow down. Instead, I saw that she shifted, going faster. Only then did I realize what she was doing. Her car crossed the finish line and she jumped out as it hit mine. I screamed as the weight of the two cars crushed me. I heard and felt numerous bones in my body snap as everything came to a stand-still. I moaned in pain as I attempted to push the debris off of myself. One of my arms was broken, so I had to use the unbroken one to do so. I pushed off the debris until a ray of light filtered through. I reached up and stuck my hand through, gripping part of the car and tugging myself out. My head surfaced and I coughed, slowly opening my eyes so as not to be as blinded by the sun. The crowd gasped as I looked at them. They probably just expected to die and regenerate. I used my arm as I wiggled the parts of my body that weren't broken to pull myself out. I pulled my broken arm out as my eyes drooped. Realization hit me: I had a concussion. I struggled to keep my eyes open when someone's hands cupped my armpits and pulled me the rest of the way out. I had to bite my lip to prevent myself from screaming in pain. Whoever picked me up pulled my close and gently held me.

"I'm going to make this as painless as possible. One shot and you'll regenerate." a female's voice said. I knew that voice, but I couldn't remember where from. The person laid me on the ground and pulled out their gun. Looking up at them I realized it was Calhoun. Her finger was on the trigger, and I closed my eyes. The last thing I heard was a loud boom.

I regenerated in the middle of the race track next to Calhoun. Shaking my head a few times I looked up at her.

"Feeling better?" she asked me. I smiled and nodded, and the crowd began cheering. I blushed slightly; I wasn't used to anyone cheering for me, much less all of Sugar Rush. It felt nice though. I smiled and waved at everybody when someone hugged me.

"Oh my Mod Pepper! You're ok!" Vanellope cried. I pulled myself out of the hug and rolled my eyes like everything that had just happened was no big deal. Vanellope opened her mouth to say something but I raised my hand to shush her. She stopped, and I gripped her wrist as I walked to the bottom of the announcing booth next to where Taffyta was standing. I motioned to Sour Bill to throw me the microphone, and he dropped it into my hands. I let go of Vanellope and walked a few steps forward.

"Citizens of Sugar Rush! As you know, Taffyta and I made a deal. If I were to win, she was to step down and let Vanellope have her spot back as President. Although there has been a slight distraction, it is now time that Sugar Rush is returned to the one who rightfully rules!" I cried into the microphone. The crowd cheered and I faced the two. Taffyta reluctantly gave Vanellope her royal spear back, and faced the crowd. Everybody's cheers grew louder as she bowed. When she straightened back onto a standing position I smiled at her. "Welcome back President." I said. She smiled.

"Glad to be back."


End file.
